Atlanta — May 8, 2003 — Logistics solutions specialist Logility this week offered a preview of the latest version of its flagship Voyager Solutions, the company's Web-based collaborative supply chain optimization solutions.
Logility said that version 7.0 of the solutions, unveiled at the provider's Connections 2003 conference but due to be available this summer, focuses on streamlining and accelerating the collaborative supply chain between internal partners such as marketing, sales, finance, manufacturing, warehouse management and logistics, as well as external trading partners such as customers, suppliers and carriers.
Key features of 7.0 include the ability to gain global visibility into real-time operations and overall business strategy performance through an Internet portal that visually incorporates key performance indicators and summarizes the current status of supply chain operations. This feature is intended to help companies detect and respond to demand, supply, distribution and customer service needs in real-time via alert-based notification of key supply chain events.
Usability enhancements in the upcoming version were designed to provide views of both single-enterprise and multiple-enterprise collaborative planning processes. Users can define flexible "personal views" across all Logility planning engines to focus on key functions, products, markets and comparative forecasting techniques that leverage multiple sources of demand.
The provider said that new load optimization capabilities streamline inbound, transfer and vendor-managed inventory (VMI) strategies, such as building shipments, minimizing transportation costs, specifying distribution mode constraints and automatically releasing planned orders. Companies can extend supply, production and distribution analysis to include multiple simulations of their supply chain network requirements for long-term planning and budgeting.
The solution also provides for global sourcing management, helping to streamline and automate the strategic sourcing process from proposal management and product specification package delivery to bid analysis and supplier performance management, through production management, quality monitoring, packaging and carton labeling, supplier shipment tracking and advance shipping notification.
In addition, the new version includes global orders and global inventory Web services that provide real-time access to order and inventory status information via the Internet. Global orders provides visibility across the supply chain into order status for customers, suppliers, shippers and carriers, enabling advanced logistics strategies such as real-time merge-in-transit, while global inventory provides real-time visibility of all inventoried items across the supply chain, enabling optimized inventory investments and better customer service, according to Logility.
A new transportation planning optimizer is intended to let companies evaluate costs and equipment availability while considering multiple shipment strategies and transport modes for inbound and outbound planning, providing additional flexibility to match resources against customer needs and respond to dynamic market conditions.
The new version will include new pre-packaged workflows, which provide templates of additional industry best practices to increase warehouse productivity, improve customer service, enhance order visibility and accelerate deployment. For example, the recursive container workflow provides additional order visibility to track orders beyond the four walls of the warehouse down to a case on a pallet that has been loaded on a specific truck.
Finally, 7.0 will support for Microsoft .NET Platform, which will allow Voyager Solutions to use Web services to provide a common view across distributed systems. Logility said that this would give customers the ability to more easily assess the status of their global supply chain operations. Microsoft .NET integrates disparate legacy systems with current Internet technologies, allowing applications, services and devices to collaborate internally and externally, the provider said.
"Logility Voyager Solutions 7.0 demonstrates our focus on innovations that help our customers achieve greater supply chain visibility," said Mike Edenfield, Logility's president and CEO. "Voyager 7.0 gives Logility customers greater visibility and control over their internal operations and external trading partner relationships, enabling them to significantly improve their overall effectiveness by driving down supply chain costs while accelerating cycle times to get products to market faster."
